An Introduction to the Dance of India, China, Korea, Japan. INSTITUTION ASIA Society, New York, N.Y
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 080 392 SO 000 414 AUTHOR Gordon, Beate; Gordon, Joseph _ TITLE An Introduction to the Dance of India, China, Korea, Japan. INSTITUTION ASIA Society, New York, N.Y. PUB DATE 65 NOTE 13p.; Revised Edition. EDRS PRICE MF -$0.65 HC -$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Asian History; *Asian Studies; Chinese culture; *Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Enrichment; *Dance; Dramatics; Fine Arts; Korean Culture; *Non Western Civilization; O.:iental Music; Pamphlets; Religious Cultural Groups; Resource Materials; *Theater Arts IDENTIFIERS Buddhism; China; India; Japan; Korea a ABSTRACT The general aim of this booklet is to assist those who desire to increase their knowledge and appreciation of Asian cultures and, more specifically, to provide an additional dimension to the Asia Society's Dance Demonstration Program. Dance history, philosophical ideas of religion, accompanying rituals, the relationship of dance to music, and roles and styles of today are briefly described and traced for each of the countries of India, China, Korea, and Japan._The artistic interchan0 and transmission of dance-form from one culture to another in each country is emphasized. The last section compares Asian and Western dance, focussing on differences in attitudes and performances..(SJM) COPY FILMED FROMBEST AVAILABLE FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY 0` U S DEPARTMENT OF NEAL Til, EDUCATION WELFARE NJ NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION a) THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM re\ THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN A TING IT POINTS Of VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DC NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL tOTIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION: OR POLICY -IJ AN INTRODUCTION -......0"" TO THE DANCE OF INDIA CHINA KOREA JAPAN s . BEATE AND JOSEPH CORDON ,sr THE ASIA SOCIETY NEW YORK PREFACE lance is found in every culture but is expressed in unique forms. With the hope of assisting those who are trying to increase their knowledge and appreciation of Asian cultures and peoples, the Asia Society is pleased to publish An Introduction to the Dance of India, China, Korea and Japan. This booklet has been written to provide an additional dimension to the Asia Society's "Asian Dance Demonstration Program." The program is directed by Beate Gordon and consists of five "performer packages" de- picting the dance of India, China, Korea and Japan. We are grateful to Faubion Bowers for reading the manuscript and for providing valuable suggestions. Appreciation is also extended to The Asia Foundation for its grant which helped in the preparation of the man- uscript. Above all, we are indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Gordon for their interest and scholarship in making possible this publication. Revised Edition 1965 Authoritative books in English on Asian dance are still few in number. Our authors relied mainly on magazine and monograph materials. In particular, they wish to acknowledge the assistance received from the following sources. (Books available in paperback are preceded by an asterisk; the paperback publisher is listed in parentheses.) Ambrose, Kay CLASSICAL DANCE AND COSTUME OF INDIA. Lon- don, England: Adam and Charles Black, Ltd., 1950 Banerji, P. DANCE OF INDIA. Allahabad, India: Kitabistan Bowers, Faubion THEATRE IN THE EAST: A SURVEY OF ASIAN DANCE AND DRAMA. (Originally published in 1956 by Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York; reprinted in paperback in 1960 by Grove Press, New York.) THE DANCE IN INDIA. New York, New York: Columbia University Press, 1953 Cho, Won Kyung DANCES OF KOREA. 434 W. 120th Street. New York, New York Ram, Gopal and INDIAN DANCING. London, England: Phoenix House, D. &mak Ltd. Scott, A. C. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHINESE THEATRE. New York, New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1959 Sugiyama, OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE DANCE. Tok- yo, Japan: Kokusai Bunke Shinko-Kai BHARATA NATY4.M: CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCE. November 2, 1963 issue of The Asian Student, The Asi Foundation, San Francisco, California KOREA'S DANCING, CLASSIC AND MODERN. Seoul, Korea: Volume 3, No. 2, February 1963 issue of Korea Journal Marg Magazine, 34-38 Bark Street, Bombay, India KATHAKALI. Volume 11, No. 1, December 1957 KATHAK. Volume 12, No. 4, September 1959 BHARATA NATYAM. Volume 10, No. 4, September 1957 MANIPURI. Volunse 14, No. 4, September 1961 AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN DANCE by Ram Gopal, Volume 3, No. 2 FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bowers, FaubionJAPANESE THEATRE. New York, New York: Hermit- age, 1952. (Hill and Wang) Ernst, Erie THE KABUKI THEATER. New York, New York: Ox- ford. 1956. (Grove Press) Gargi, Balwant THEATRE IN INDIA. New York, New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1962 Keith, THE SANSKRIT DRAMA IN ITS ORIGIN, DEVELOP- Arthur Berriedale MENT, THEORY AND PRACTICE. Oxford, England: Clarendon, 1924 La Meri THE GESTURE LANGUAGE OF THE HINDU DANCE. (Originally publised in 1941 by Columbia University Press; reprinted in 1964 by Benjamin Blom, Inc., Bronx, New York.) Scott, A. C. THE CLASSICAL THEATRE OF CHINA. London, Eng- land: Allen and Unwin, 1957 THE KABUKI THEATRE OF JAPAN. New York, New York: Macmillan, 1955 Waley, Arthur THE NO PLAYS OF JAPAN. London, England: Allen and Unwin, 1921. (Grove Press) AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DANCE OF INDIA, CHINA, KOREA AND JAPAN As in many other cultures, Asian dance is the refined and sophisticated by-product of religious ritual. Buddhism, which originated in India around 500 B.C.. spread to China, Korea and Japan over a period of a thousand years, carrying with it the dances which celebrated Buddhist religious fes- tival- Indian Buddhist monks, who originally came to China to spread the philosophical ideas of their religion, brought with them musical instruments and dance-forms as well. From China, in turn, this influence (having ac- quired Confucian ideas) was carried to Korea, around 372 A.i). At the same time, during the first six centuries A.D., Korean culture was itself a powerful influence on China and Japan, exporting its own dance-forms to these countries. Thus there was an artistic interchange among these Asian countries. The transmission of dance-forms from one culture to another introduced changes in them. The philosophies, the accompanying ritual, and the role and style prescribed for dance became a synthesis of foreign and native elements, both religious and artistic. In China, for example, be- came religion was less concerned with the supernatural than it was in India. the dance is less concerned with gods and legends and more with history, heroes, and man's ethical behavior. In ancient Asia, where drama was a part of religious observance, the dance was used to instruct as well as to entertain. It was accompanied by the spoken word and by song, and was used to illustrate and clarify the meaning of the words. Dance in India According to legend, Brahma, a Hindu god, devised dance and drama as a pastime for celestial beings. He taught a sage named Bharata all he knew. For more than a thousand years, the dance system (sastra) which Bharata subsequently created was transmitted through the spoken word until, in the fourth century A.D., it was recorded in writing. The sys- tem gives in great detail descriptions not only of movements and facial expression-but costume and makeup as well. According to legend again, the fht great dancer was Siva who, with Brahma and Vishnu, forms the trinity worshipped by Hindus. Therefore much of Indian dance concerns itself with Siva and incidents in his life. Indian dance -has also borrowed many themes from two epic poems, The Ramayanaand TheMahabharata(written about 1,500 years ago). These two poems tell of the adventures of gods and mortuls, of supernatural ani- mals and men, and of good and evil actions. From the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, Muslim invasions of India stifled the development of Hindu artistic expression; the followers of Mu- hammad considered the depiction of God as blasphemy. Also during this time, Hindu religious concepts changed; a cult arose which believed that Vishnuincarnate as Krishna, the cow-herderwas the most powerful deity. A central theme of Hindu worship and literature became romantic love. In the dance, plots centered on stories concerning Krishna's flirtation with the milkmaids and particularly with Radha, his favorite. Today there are four main schools of Indian dance: Bharata Natyam and Kathakali (both south Indian). Kathak and Manipuri (north Indian). Bharata Natyam, with its center in Madras, originally was danced ey men but for the last several centuries, it has been performed by womenthe devadasis (temple dancers). In more recent years. it has been taken up again by men as well as women. Bharata Natyam is a dance which com- bines movements of the body, eyes, neck and hands with vigorous and rapid foot movements. The complex rhythms beaten by the feet are em- phasized by small bells attached to the ankles. Bharata Natyam (as in all schools of Indian dance) is based mainly on nine "emotions" (rasa): heroism, fear, love. humor, fury,pathos, won- der. disgust and tranquility. These emotions are shown by body, hand and finger movements, and by facial expression. Another important basis of Indian dance is "mood" (bhava)pleasure, delight, and so forth. To ex- press the "moods" and "emotions," a special gesture-language(mudras) also has been developed. These gestures can express ideas, objects, hnimals, gods. rivers. mountains and so on. All dances are based on various pre- scribed rhythms (tala). An important part of a Bharata Natyam performance is a series of songs (padams) which are always deeply religious.The dancer either sings the words in unison with the accompanist or forms them silently with her lips while using her hands in the gesture-language. Her facial expressions also help to interpret the meaning of the song. Kathakali, the dance-form of the west coast of south India, originally was performed by men only.